


I'll follow you down

by delightfuls



Series: maybe you could sing it with me [4]
Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, soulmate-ish because its them through different lives i guess?, the long ass soulmate au no one asked for!!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:02:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22326793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delightfuls/pseuds/delightfuls
Summary: He’s grateful with every atom that constitutes his soul for this moment,Or Gina Porter and Ricky Bowen meet, know and fall for each other through various lifetimes.
Relationships: Ricky Bowen/Gina Porter
Series: maybe you could sing it with me [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1571374
Comments: 12
Kudos: 78





	1. Queen Gee and Lonely Boy

**Author's Note:**

> I. The Gossip Girl world, in which Gina is Blair Waldorf and Ricky is Dan Humphrey.
> 
> And they both have some issues.

The sun shines against the recently washed glass windows as Gina Porter walks down the dirty yet much more sophisticated sidewalks of upper Manhattan. The chilly morning hits her but her 4k European fur coat shields her slender body. 

Window shopping is so much more fun when the event for said shopping trip is due for the day itself. 

She’s 20, with a different designer bag on her arm every day and shoes worth more than your house. Her lips always glistening with Dior or Pat McGrath, dripping with venom, while her hair frames her face perfectly to form the heart everyone says she _doesn’t_ have. 

She isn’t mean. Per say. _No_ she just has exquisite taste and will do whatever it takes to be the best. Because she _is_ the best. Always reaching for the highest of heights she never once looks back or down to those whom she deems unworthy. She wants to be her own person, with no ties. 

Maybe it's because she’s constantly seeking the attention of her absentee designer mom, or lack of real friends.

When Gina Porter was in high school she learned no friends came without a cost.

* * *

Nini was her name, and she was nothing ordinary. At the age of 16, Nini, had all the boys, their disgusting fathers, and girls drooling at her feet. Her delicately placed diamond encrusted barrette gave her an edge Gina simply did not have. 

But Nini saw something in Gina, maybe a pinch of kindness before it all went to hell. They became friends over a brunch of all the elites on the Upper East Side. Her moms were businesswomen with iron fists and gold bracelets. 

Nini and Gina were practically stuck to each other by the hip, going everywhere together. 

Nini made everything brighter, her smile made flowers bloom and men swoon, even her own mother saw her as a muse. Using Gina as an enabler, her mother convinced the girls they were both to be apart of a shoot. But Gina did not make the cut. 

Gina watched bitterly as her mother fitted Nini with a personalized dress. She was ethereal, an angel in all her glory. Her mother laughed as she fixed the dress on her friend, a laugh Gina had never heard in all her years as a daughter. 

That was the first nail in the coffin of their friendship, and as you can guess it all went downhill from there.

As they turned 17 everything went to hell, Nini dated a nobody named Bowen or something and also fucked EJ, one of Gina’s longest friends and maybe secret crush. When she confronted the brunette, Nini spat all of Gina’s insecurities in her face, from her mother’s lack of affection, to her simply non-existing impact on the world, aka high school scene. 

Gina understood then that friendships meant betrayal and that vulnerability and love were merely foolish fairy tales.

* * *

Her fingers brush against the dresses hung up on the rack; no, nope, feels cheap, Dollarstore can do better. Her fingers search while her eyes and mouth move in disgust, until she finally finds the one dress, a grey strapless dress that shines and pools at her feet. It’s perfect.

She ties her hair in a bun, and adds the final touches on her face. A blood red lipstick, to scare the weak and the competition she thinks as she smacks her lips together and looks at herself in her 3k hand mirror. **  
**

She’s ambitious and gets what she wants.

Always.

* * *

He’s 21, and fresh out of fucks to give. He likes to think he’s not like other guys but who is he kidding? In the age of hipsters and aesthetic made out of loneliness and trust issues he really isn’t the most unique person in the world, let alone Brooklyn. You’d think him wanting to be a writer and having a rather authentic taste of life would make him out of the ordinary but instead he’s like any other gum on the streets waiting to be disgustingly stuck to a shoe..

 _Yeah excuse the metaphors_ , he’s trying to write right now. And not anything remotely interesting just some stupid article on the stupidly rich. Again. 

But the thing is.

His hands itch to write a story, a story different than any other. He doesn’t want anything cliche. None of that romantic crap, or a story of hope. He doesn’t want to live his life covering stories about New York’s uptown brats or their new helicopter pads. He wants.. but he doesn’t know what yet. All that is for sure is that he has a deadline the next day and a fancy party to attend at 9. 

His deadline might involve the fancy party. And that fancy party _definitely_ involves Upper East Side brats and their helicopter pads.

So Ricky Bowen closes his 5 year old laptop, brushes down a few curls and puts on his best tux. A tux he has not touched since he last went to his ex girlfriend’s birthday party. His shoes don’t shine, and his perfume is not worth more than 30 bucks, see if he cares.

* * *

It’s her mom’s party, a launch party, based on her new line of floral based dresses. The staircase spirals down to the floor, its handle covered in vines, and lavender, roses, African daisies, snapdragon flowers and so many more. They’re actual flowers imported from their motherland. The best money could offer. 

It’s beautiful, she thinks as her fingers delicately wrap around one of the vines. Her palm hovers on the handle, every meticulously placed flower brushing against her skin, she feels as if she were in a fairytale, getting ready to meet her glorious fate as princess, as queen-

“Gina! If you don’t come down faster, you’ll embarrass me in front of my guests!” Her mother yelled. 

And just like that she was back in her world, in the world she was raised for.

She smiles, and nods, poses and flirts with rich men. Walking away knowing their gazes are trailing after her.

And once she’s done she scratches out their name from her mind, her goal is to make herself known to these men. She didn’t care for these men or any man. They were merely steps to help her achieve her goal, a reference, or someone to put in a good word with more powerful people. 

Gina Porter learned long ago to not care about people, because all they do is chew you and spit you out to the wolves. In more ways than one. 

No one has ever wanted to know her past her full to her pockets full of cards and cash, and her mother. And the people who did just ended up shoving knives into her back. She’s glad Nini left the Upper East Side. Even though she might miss having a friend, she’s glad that impossibly selfish girl is gone somewhere in the sun still believing men will bring her worth. 

And besides, Gina can have _any_ friends she wants.

* * *

He’s a bit out of his element. 

Because his fucking editor forgot to tell him he was covering a fashion line launch. 

He knew the name Porter struck a familiar chord within him, it’s one of the biggest names of the Upper East Side and fashion world. 

He sticks his tongue out and wets his lips. He has two options, to run out and scream at his editor for this mix up, or not lose his job and cover the launch. 

He sighs, taking a champagne glass from one of the passing waiters. This was going to be an extremely long night.

* * *

And he’s right it is a long night, he’s finished talking to each model, getting their opinions on the dresses, what they thought about Mrs. Porter herself and even had the time for them to flirt with him. 

He’s taken pictures of each dress and already prepared introduction to each of them. The only thing he can’t seem to get ahold of is the designer herself, but he’s okay with the fact that he won’t be able to get a word or two from her for the press, especially his press. **  
**

He pats himself on the back for not killing himself within the first minutes he stepped into the gallery. So he pushes past the crowd and sits himself down at the bar, and gives himself a reward, or 3.

After gulping down the third, a familiar looking woman sits beside him. She is visibly pissed, very irritated, her eyes almost tearing up. But past that he sees her. She’s so. 

_Pretty_. Her once perfectly done bun coming undone, with curls brushing against her temple. Her lips in a shade of red that screams danger, and makes something within his spine tremble.

She must feel his gaze because within the next second she’s looking straight at him. And no way that’s Gina Fucking Porter. 

He almost chokes. 

“Bowen…? What are you doing here?” She asks, her eyebrows arching. 

_Shit-_ “Um I could ask you the same?” He answers without a thought, and regrets it the second it leaves his mouth.

He now knows exactly why the name Porter struck such a familiar chord within him, she was Nini’s, _his ex’s_ best friend, who could not stand him.

Well, in his defence he _didn’t really_ appreciate her either.

She was quite _special,_ with her sharp comments, and compliments full of lies. Not too mention she didn’t even bother calling him by his name, rather Bowen. Because a) he was from Brooklyn and b) she was from the Upper East Side. 

He puts emphasis on special and didn’t really, because he could see past her facade sometimes. Even in high school, he saw a girl trying her best to succeed even if that meant very unethical ways of it. He knew she read, because he’d see her in the library hidden behind books and threats. He knew she had some sort of feelings beneath the ice cold look she had, because of the tears that pooled at the corner of her eyes when her mother nor her friends showed up at a ceremony to congratulate her impeccably written essay on the double standards within feminism.

He’s so lost in memories of her that he had forgotten where he was.

She scoffs. And he’s back.

He flinches on instinct because he is apparently very used to her telling him to get lost.

But doesn’t, she doesn’t tell him to move before she calls the cops on him like the old Gina would’ve. She just watches the bartender, or rather it seems like she’s watching the bartender. She’s obviously distraught over something, but he doesn’t think he’s allowed to ask why.

Despite the noises around them, an oddly comfortable silence envelops them. So he lets it be, whatever is going on between them, _or not going on,_ he does not want to be the one to ruin it.

She’s the one to break the bubble. “I thought Nini dragged you to the depths of the sewers of Brooklyn after she broke your heart.” She says without looking at him. 

It’s his turn to scoff now. He moves himself closer to the counter and her subsequently. He ignores the jump he feels within his heart when his knee brushes hers. 

He props himself up on his elbows and holds his drink up as if he were about to make some philosophical statement. Her eyes follow his movements closely, waiting for him to speak.

So he does. 

“She did, but I broke hers before, but you already knew that Gina.” He lets out while downing his drink. 

But apparently she didn’t, from the way he felt her body stiffens, or the way she looks at him. 

He puts down his glass in a rather abrupt manner, before moving closer to her. He doesn’t know why, but he wants to know what she thinks, or maybe he’s just drunk.

“You didn’t know?” He breathes out. She gazes at him, and for a second it looks like she gave his lips a glance. But before his increasingly foggy mind can think something of it, she turns her head away, to the side.

* * *

_He broke up with her…_

Ricky Bowen broke up with Nini. _Yeah_ she did know his name. 

But that’s not important.

Or it was when Nini jokingly asked Gina why she had such a problem against Ricky.

She breathes in, those were nothing but feelings of jealousy, Gina always had an attraction towards all that she could not have.

_Or.._

No.

She gathers herself, and plasters on a smile, “Of course I did, no wonder she flew away halfway across the globe, she got dumped by _you_.”

* * *

That makes him snap from his slightly drunken daze. There she was Queen Gee.

He laughs, because yeah it feels like the old days. “Oh, how I’ve missed you Ice Queen Gigi!”

He continues laughing while she seems to be getting more and more pissed by the second. 

“Funny, I can’t say the same, Ricky, or Richard is it?” She lets out while gulping down her own drink.

He doesn’t know why but he wants to piss her off. “Oh come on Gina I know you did, all those insults, disapproving glares didn’t come out of thin air?”

“You missed me, Gina! Admit it!” But she doesn’t, he sees her debating if she should hit him or pour a drink on his head, so he ups his game.

“You _like_ me Gina Porter!” And well...She stiffens again but this time he sees her stop breathing for a second. 

He realizes then that she likes him, or did in high school. _Whatever, right? Right_ . Before he can delicately broach the subject or brush it off, she attacks. **  
  
**

“And what makes you think I’d be interested in you of all the rats and plagues in the large and disgusting Island that is Manhattan?” She asks her eyes conveying on her classic smirks.

He doesn’t know what to think, he was planning on keeping it chaste, but if she really wants to go _there_ he will too.

He looks at her. He sees her biting her lips, something she used to also do in school when she was nervous. Her fingers are toying with the rings she has on. And her legs are moving lightly and brushing his own.

She’s afraid of what he’s going to say.

So he inches closer until his breath touches her face. Her face turns abruptly because, but she doesn’t move away. His nose ends up being close enough to brush hers. 

“Gina...I’ve seen you, I know you. You think I’m stupid? I know you’re one of the smartest people here, that you’ve earned your place here despite all the money you have. I know you want something real. Because despite all the money, all the cars and the boys, you want to be someone who has earned their place in the world.” He says lowly.

_“I’ve noticed you since the very first day I got to school.”_

He inches further and he’s practically falling into her now. She doesn’t move backwards only leans further into him too. His nose presses into her cheek, and she smells enchanting, seducing, his eyes and body take a moment to take in the tension and things he’s feeling for her. 

A part of him knows he’s been drawn to her since the day he saw her beside Nini.

“ And I know you want to feel, Gina Porter.” He says. 

Her breath stutters. She moves away from him, slowly, pushing her chair and walks away. 

He looks at her walk away, his heart threatening to jump out of his chest. He’s expecting her to leave and go call security to throw him out.

What he’s not expecting, is for her to turn around. 

He rises up to his feet, and she nods, turning back inciting him to follow her.

So he follows her through the crowd of people. Some of them drunk, some of them engaging in business deals, others flirting while a few touch the diverse fabrics on each dress.

He raises his eyes back to her, and she’s looking at him while she walks up on the spiraling staircase. Her dress trails behind her, like the tail of a shooting star. She’s the shooting star, or a comet whichever.

He walks up the stairs in the most subtle way he can without raising any bit of suspicion, but then realizes as he turns around that no one is looking at him. So he runs up the stairs.

He sees a door open with light peeking out. His knuckles push he door lightly open. He gazes at her, he sees her back as her hands move into her hair to take out pins from her bun. He closes the door slowly behind himself to make his presence known.

She tenses, her hands falling to her side. The room is dimly lit, by her nightstand lamps, it makes the atmosphere somewhat more intimate. He walks towards her slowly, shadows of his figure walking across the room. 

He brings his hands to her elbows, her bare skin. She turns to face him, and it’s- he doesn’t know how to describe how he feels. Her hair is undone, and her face calmer than he’s ever seen it. 

Her fingers rise up to his jaw, and he shivers, he hates to say it but he’s wanted this since he first laid eyes on her, the obnoxious rich know it all was who he wanted.

* * *

She rises on her toes to kiss him square on the mouth and it’s like he’s taken by his desire for her. Her mouth is soft under his, but he can’t be soft, not when he’s feeling a billion different emotions, not when he’s seeing colours he never thought existed. 

So he kisses her with the force of every word he can think of;

He’s no longer in control, his mind taken over by her. His hands move up to her cheeks to guide and keep her face near his. He drinks her up until she’s gasping for air. Until his breathing becomes so hard he can’t breathe anymore.

He doesn’t know how they got here, or how this happened after so many years, and such different worlds, but he’s grateful.

  
  



	2. Seconds bloom (Every move in right time)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Gina, I’m not much of a contemporary dancer, my forte is ballet, classical and I-” He stutters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> II. She did hip-hop and he did ballet.

He’s all glitter and sweat when she sees him for the first time. His eyes winged with blue liner and glitter messily placed on his eyelids. The little specks of light falling to his cheeks, but he doesn’t seem to care. His eyebrows are knit together in concentration as he continues to flow through the rhythm of what she can discern as a piece of classical music. The strings of harp, violin strike her, she _ knows  _ the piece and yet her mind cannot seem to remember where exactly it is from. 

He’s a vision in silver she thinks as he twirls around the old room. 

His feet glide across the creaky floorboards without making a single sound, while his arms wave up to skies to the heavens, and the gods. She thinks he looks like an angel that fell. 

He doesn’t notice her at all, caught up in his own world as the music around him guides his every step. As the music ups its tempo, he drastically changes his demeanor. Trombones, horns, and tubas gather for the change of setting. He engages in a somber yet oddly seductive series of movements that challenge his previously delicate and fairy-like dance. His legs and arms move frantically yet he seems fully in control of his every single move. A perfect balance of control and madness she thinks. 

As the violins, tubas and flutes strike their last chords and notes, he falls to the floor on his knees. She hisses and closes her eyes at the contact. She feels the pain of the fall, she’s seen and felt the bruises from her own performances, but the way he does it makes he believe he’s just landed on the softest of clouds. His head stays bowed, his wild curls hanging and begging to be pulled she thinks before she could stop herself.

She raises her hands and starts clapping. Because god did he deserve a standing ovation. His body stiffens as he slowly raises himself to his feet. His head turns and one of his curls, sweat bound, falls between his starry eyelids.   


_Shit he’s cute_ she thinks as he awkwardly looks at her and offers her a smile. 

He moves quickly to collect his things, she almost feels as if he’s slightly scared of her. 

She doesn’t think much of it, moving into the space he left and dropping her own things to floor. She looks at herself in the mirror while she stretches, and notices he’s still in the room looking at her.

His hair is ruffled, his eyes dripping blue while his hands hold on tightly to a gym bag over his shoulder.

His eyes roam over the room and then glance towards her, “I didn’t know anyone else stayed here at this hour except the janitor..” 

_Neither did she_ ,    
  


“Uh neither did I? Guess you learn a thing or two sometimes.” She lets out with a smile. He nods and gives her a shy smile of his own. 

He stays there standing for a couple of more seconds, she thinks its best she introduces herself in case they end up seeing each other again (she hopes so).

She stands up to her feet. Her hands fidgeting because he might just be her first friend in East High. “Uh, I’m Gina, Gina Porter..I came to this school like two weeks ago..” 

She’s swaying a bit, her hands clasped together now. His face suddenly seems to understand. “Oh you’re the new transfer student, our dance teacher has been gushing about huh?” He lets out. 

She laughs and so does he. He takes out his hand ready to have her shake it, “And I’m-” But he gets interrupted by the buzzing in his bag.

His phone. 

He holds his hand up, signaling her that it won’t take him long. 

But it _does_. 

His eyes blink twice, and he swallows hard. For a second it looks like he might have forgotten how to breathe.

She might have known him for only a few minutes but she knows that he just got some horrible news.

When the call ends, he gives her a tight smile, and leaves quickly shoes squeaking against the polished floors, before she can get another word out.

* * *

Needless to say she doesn’t see him for the next 3 weeks. She comes early to the studio hoping to see him dancing, practicing, just him, but he’s not there. She can’t really ask anyone about his whereabouts either. 

Because she barely knows anyone. Gina Porter’s only potential friend is going through something and she has no idea where or how he’s doing.

It hurts a bit. 

She doesn’t know why.

* * *

When she comes home after another failed attempt at finding the young boy dancing, safe and sane, she falls onto her bed. 

Her room dimly lit, by the descending sun, she’s exhausted, her efforts into finding him, are all useless, she doesn’t know a single person in his life. She’s ready to give up until she hears a familiar song coming from outside of her room. 

She recognizes the harps, and heavy violin chords clashing with tubas. 

It’s _his_ song.   
  


She runs to the living room where her mom is seated and watching, a ballet piece. The corner of the screen displays the name of the song.

_ Swan Lake Op. 21: Scene Moderato. _

Her mom notices her, and pats down beside her. Gina moves and sits down, her mom’s hand comes up to her shoulder, as she caresses it.

“Remember how much you were in love with Swan Lake? Every adaptation of it, even the Barbie one!” Her mother adds with a laugh.

Gina smiles softly not believing that she had forgotten about  _ such a trivial _ part of her childhood. 

But then again, details and interests are hard to keep up with when you move all over the country more than once in two years as you’re growing up.

* * *

The next week she shows up early again, but he’s nowhere near. So she accepts it. Sighing she settles her bag to the floor, and preps her playlist. 

Hitting shuffle on her phone, Spotify decides to give her _Forever by Labrinth_ as a kickstarter.

She breathes in closing her eyes to get a sense of the rhythm. The song’s melody lulls her mind, gives her body something to relax with. As the vocals start, her left arm and hand arise to parallel the song’s tempo. 

When the beat drops, she drops to her knees, moving her body in a delicate manner. Her eyes still closed she moves around the room letting the music flow throw her and into her veins. 

Her fingers form a fist, as she takes every note in. She’s so deeply focused she doesn’t hear him walk in or clap his hands when the song ends. 

As she realizes he’s in the room, she stops fully, breathing hard. He looks at her like she’s some deity of sorts. 

His gaze is so intense that she has to turn away. As she’s taking a minute to compose herself, he settles his bag on the floor near the door, and starts stretching.

And then she gets a brilliant idea. 

She turns around abruptly.  _ “Dance with me. _ ” She says. 

Her words make him stop his movements. He’s mid stretch, his white shirt restraining against his arm, and um- Shit that’s beside the point. 

He takes a moment and looks at her. “What?”

She moves towards him, “Dance with me.” She says clearer and louder. 

“Uh, I don’t think so.” He says while pushing himself against the wall and sinking down to the floor, showcasing just how much he did not want to.

“Gina, I’m not much of a contemporary dancer, my forte is ballet, classical and I-” He stutters. 

But she wouldn’t take no for an answer. 

“Come on _Swan Lake_ , you got this.” She tells him as she grasps his forearms to pull him to his feet. 

His flesh against her hands makes her blush a bit but she dismisses it alongside the quickening of her heartbeat, to her previous dance routine. 

“ _Swan Lake_?” He asks with a smile. 

She blushes a bit realizing that she had just let out the nickname. She holds her gaze down, brushing away curls that had come apart. 

“Um, yeah, you were dancing out a scene from _Swan Lake_ right? First and last time I saw you?”   
  


She doesn't tell him about her obsession with Barbie's Swan Lake. They're not that far ahead in their relationship for him to know how much she knows about Swan Lake deep in the abyss of her mind.

He lets out a chuckle, “Yeah, Rue Bennett.” Oh how she loved their banter already.

“ _ Rue _ huh? See you knew the song! You got this come on, rookie.” She says as she regains the courage to pull him near her.

He looks at her hesitantly as she clicks play, but he follows her lead. Quite beautifully too.

He adds on his personal moves and makes her choreography mesmerizing. They practice, laugh, and hold each other like life long dance partners until the clock strikes 10.

* * *

Both shook to their core at the time and the adrenaline and feelings rushing within their veins, they hurry to collect their things and head out. 

She’s about to start walking when he drives next to her and tells her to come in. And a part of her knows that she shouldn’t jump into a stranger’s car, but he’s not really a stranger.

Not when she feels like she’s already met him deep within her soul.

The drive up to her place is quiet, but not the bad kind. She can hear the night’s breeze, and most of all feel it’s wind against her cheeks. 

As he pulls into her driveway and stops the car, the air fills itself with uncharted waters. 

She notices that his hands are trembling on the wheel. As he bites his bottom lip.

“Uh- I, I liked dancing with you Gina Porter. You made me feel better than I have ever felt in the past few weeks.” He lets out lowly. 

Her heart glows, she thinks. That’s what she’s wanted for him for the past few weeks. But- “I’m glad, _Swan Lake_ …” 

He laughs at the name. “If you don’t mind me asking, are you okay? I- I just was very worried about you..” She lets out.

His face turns to her shocked, and eyes with softness within them. She worries she might’ve come off as creepy so she quickly follows with, “Not in _like_ a stalker way, because we barely know each other, but you’re like one of the only people I know here, and that day you seemed devastated and I just wanted to know if you were okay.”

She’s breathless when she’s done. She’s scared to look up at his face, but she does it anyway. What she finds is something that makes her heartbeat quicken. 

Him looking at her with complete admiration and thanks. “I’m okay, I’m glad you asked...And I’m sorry if _I worried you,_ Gina.” He tells her. 

She nods, not knowing what to say, but letting out a breath because he’s okay.

He hesitates before continuing. “Um, there’s been a lot of home drama, and I guess sometimes it’s hard to cope with.” And now it's his turn to not look at her.

_ But she knows what he means, she has not had a permanent home in years, she knows.  _

She puts her hand on top of his, to tell him she understands. His gaze turns to her abruptly, as he cracks a soft smile. She can’t help but smile herself.

She’s about to remove her hand from his and tell him goodnight, before he grips it and intertwines their fingers to form a hand shake.   


“As much as I love the nickname ‘ _Swan Lake_ ’, I’d rather you know my real name if we’re gonna be friends you know?; I’m Ricky Bowen.” 

She smiles, her cheeks hurting almost. She shakes their hands. “Hi Ricky, I’m Gina.”

He chuckles. “I know.” He says as their hands stay together.

And that’s the beginning. A beginning she never thought would be possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dancers in love, ah. This was originally based on a petermj fic I was writing but here we are! I wanted to add so much more into this one but I also wanted something up for you guys so you guys would know that I have this fic in my heart and am working on it a lot. Again feedback and ideas are appreciated! 
> 
> Next up: Ricky Bowen might be an alien and Gina hates him?


	3. Late night devil, put your hands on me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As if she’d be ever afraid of a puny hero. She turns around, her mask snugly covering the contours of her eyes, her lashes batting in a slow and hypnotic manner. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> III. Gina is a thief and Ricky is a hero, and they don't know each other. 
> 
> They are both in college despite no mentions of it.

“You’re sick, you know?” He tells her as she’s stuffing the prized jewel of the town into her purse. 

He hears her walk slowly towards her, as to not scare or make her flinch. The museum illuminated by only the display lights and sky above the clear ceiling windows. __

_ Pfft how pathetic. _

“And why is that?” She asks, still not paying an ounce of attention to him, as she closes the display.

“Because you've knocked out more than 20 guards and stealing at night like a coward.” He says calmly. 

“They’re fine, they’re grown ups, and  _ ‘coward’ _ is a bit old fashioned, do better.” See says without a second thought. 

She feels him still making his way towards taking one cautious step at a time. 

As if she’d be ever afraid of a _puny_ hero. She turns around, her mask snugly covering the contours of her eyes, her lashes batting in a slow and hypnotic manner. 

Heroes are weak, but men are weaker, she thinks as she licks her lips. She leans backwards on the jewel’s display case. Her shoulders bracing its surfaces as she waits for him to make his way to her. 

She’s inspecting her nails, when she sees him finally at the corner of her eye. She pushes herself forward, ready to taunt him, but he’s not her usual. In fact she doesn’t even know who he is. 

He seems quite fresh and new, a _ nd oh does she love new heroes _ , they have this pesky patriotic attitude that she just loves tearing apart. Her heels click as she rounds him. His hair seems to be overflowing wild curls of brown and chestnut, his eyes covered just like hers, honestly it’s quite pathetic, because if they’re being honest the eye mask hides literally nothing, but whatever.

She looks down and he seems quite short next to her with heels on. She knows that if she took them off they’d probably be around the same height, but somehow the heels really do make her feel _more_ powerful than him. She hears him let out a breath, as she looks down on his so called suit. 

Well it’s not  _ really  _ a suit. 

She lets out a laugh, clutching her stomach. That makes him finally look at her. She puts a hand to her mouth to stop her chuckles. 

They lock eyes for a moment, her heart suddenly feels heavy, and-  _ No!  _ “So what brings you here rookie?” She lets out quickly to push away any thoughts of attraction towards him. He seems bothered by the comment, he pulls at his black turtleneck, and coughs. 

“What makes you think I’m a rookie?” He asks, in a soft, yet demanding tone. She leans back against the display, to compensate for their height difference a bit, she feels maybe a twinge of sympathy for the  _ cute _ rookie. 

She swings her index towards his outfit. “Well for one, you’re dressed like a cartoon depiction of a robber, and two,  _ she raises two fingers as she leans her head to side, making her ponytail cascade above her shoulder, _ you don’t know _ who  _ I am, or what you’re up against.”

He scoffs, licking his lip. “You think I don’t know the infamous thief of this city? You’re all over the papers, news tabloids, social media…” He says as he moves towards her. "Even got a couple of fans, I believe." He says shrugs his shoulders.

She offers him a fake laugh, “Oh stop! You’re making a lady blush, compliments are a dangerous thing.” She finishes, looking at him, chin raised waiting for his next words, because she has no idea what is happening. 

“I know that you’ve stolen from countless banks in the dead of night, I know about all the artifacts that have magically disappeared from this very museum.” He lets out as the distance between them goes from 5 feet to 2. 

“You’re all big words  _ huh _ ?  _ Whatever your name is _ , these artifacts don’t even belong to them, or to you. I did what was needed, returned them to their people.” She says coolly even though she’s close to punching him in the gut. 

She waits for his superhero speech about it still not being fair, or mention the fact that she hasn't said anything in defense of the banks she’s robbed, or that crime doesn’t go unpunished. But he doesn’t. 

He’s the type of hero to get his heart strings pulled easily _ huh _ ? She adds that to the list of things she thinks of him, next to  _ cute. _

There’s a tension in the air, she can feel it on her face, in her blood. The silence isn’t uncomfortable, but for two strangers and two polar opposites who just met it sure is heavy.

He gazes at her for a few more seconds, before she breaks the silence. “Are you going to stay there or do something about your _precious_ jewel, newbie?” She taunts him as she moves behind the display case, beckoning him to follow her. 

And he does. The newbie comment gets a laugh out of him. “You know if we’re doing nicknames, what are you supposed to be _ Catwoman _ ?” He asks, as he corners her against the back of the display. 

“Too much leather? Or is it too much black rookie?” She asks. He doesn't answer her, to absorbed in their tension, she thinks.

She scans his face, or at last what she can see of it; despite his mask she can see his long lashes. She fights the urge to touch them. 

But then one of his curls falls onto his eyes, and she brushes it away before she can even make a coherent thought. He catches her wrist gently and holds her still.  _ Shit- _

Without a second thought she plants a kiss to his lips quickly. It’s a peck, quick as The Flash, but somehow it seems to last an eternity. When she pulls away she sees that he had closed his eyes, and has now opened them, slowly. His eyes look at her, seeping into her soul. 

_ He’s in awe, he’s-  _

Yeah she cannot do this, she still has to get out of here, so she uses her gun to break a window, she makes sure to hide both her and his eyes from the glass, before quickly throwing her anchor and rope above to pull her up. 

As she’s being pulled up, he dusts off the small shards of glass, and gives her the finger with an amazed smile. She laughs, as she blows him a kiss. “Until next time, rookie!”

And when she's walking across the glass rooftop vigilantly she _ knows  _ they’re about to be a hero and villain duo for the history books. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes this is not the alien au, I am sorry but it's more plotty and lengthy than I expected it to be! So it'll b a while before I post it, but have this quickly written villain/hero au, which I'll probably elaborate further down the line (would you guys want them accidentally meeting in real life without disguises?) but yes! And Gina is more of an anti-hero, so there's that. 
> 
> Next update will most likely be the alien au, and also I will probably write an au where both Ricky and Gina are just sick villains lmao. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this dumpster fire <3


	4. One strange world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IV. The Host au, in which Ricky isn’t who he seems to be and Gina has been running for the past 2 years from hosts and their souls.

He wakes up and everything seems wildly off. 

Two oddly looking individuals are gazing down on him. The space in which he is, is closed off by walls on each end, with bizarre contraptions scattered all around the room. 

They had this soft looking cover on top of what he thinks is a type of skeletal construction. They have two eyes each, glowing blue irises. 

The glowing irises he knows, because it’s who _they are to their core._

The sun’s light hits him hard; it’s rays seem to hurt his vision, more than it has ever, on any other planet. As he adjusts his senses to the blinding light, he realizes that the luminous force is not the sun but a sort of circular small sphere of sustainable energy. 

It seems as if one of the individuals observing him notices his gaze towards the sphere. They form a line with those pink lines showing a bit of white, he gathers those are teeth, perhaps a mouth?

The individual is smiling he believes, but not in a nice or comforting manner, but rather in an exasperated and impatient manner. 

“That’s a light bulb one of Earth’s best inventions we believe.” They let out in a voice that is soft, delicate and yet horrifyingly cold. 

He gathers she’s a woman from the voice. 

He nods, moving a bit, before the other individual puts a hand (he thinks it is?) on the side of his being. The individual, smiles at him softly. Before turning their back to him and discussing in whispers with the blonde individual. 

“He’s not ready, he just jumped from a 3 story building, let his body rest before you bombard him and the human for your memory seeking task, seeker.” 

Human, is that what they are called _here_? 

The shorter blonde woman, seems not content at the suggestion but respects the other man’s words.

She walks out of the room hands behind her back. Feet clicking behind her. 

He lets out a sigh, a reaction he can’t control. The other individual from which he can gather is a man, smiles at him. He helps him up, so that he is now in a sitting position. 

“I am a healer, and you are privileged to have been put into this healthy body in our peace bringing process upon this planet.” He tells him. 

“What is your name? You surely have one. You have roamed many planets, one name must’ve stuck to your soul.” The man asks him, as he touches his skin to check for any signs of issues, he guesses. 

He racks his new mind looking for any particular name that stands out. He’s about to give up until a weak voice offers him a bizarre name. 

“Richard.” He tells the healer. The healer nods slowly. 

* * *

He is given a tour of this humongous planet. And he can’t help but think how beautiful the individuals on this planet are. He’s not one to complain but it feels as if every life he had lived beforehand lacked colour and brightness among those who surrounded him. 

Here everything and everyone is much more vibrant. 

On the other planets, much of life was darkened by their environment, which in some cases involved being under water, in depth, with no way of moving.

Yes, apparently he had lived as a seaweed in one of his lives, he doesn’t like to think about it much 

* * *

He spends his first week on ‘Earth’ learning all that there is to know about these humans and their lives. 

He learns the terms, and is even set up with someone called a _therapist_? 

When he asks his healer the reason behind this, the healer leaves him even more perplexed. 

“These bodies are not like the others you have encountered beforehand, they’re very much active when it comes to _feelings,_ and those feelings are stronger than any foes or threats you think you’ve faced Richard.” 

* * *

His first session with the therapist is quite special in a manner of speaking. 

“So they tell me you call yourself Richard?” The woman with a haircut that compliments her rather sharp features. 

He sits on the large propped cushion that he’s been told is called a couch or sofa? and nods. 

She toys with the pen in her hand before writing down something in a little black leather notebook. He’s so concentrated and curious about her writing that he doesn’t seem to notice her gaze on him.

His body seems to flush as he pushes his gaze elsewhere. _What the hell? Is this? Why does he feel like he’s been caught doing something wrong, or-_

“Embarrassing?” She offers. He nods. 

She pushes herself out of her seat and brings a chair in front of him. He still can’t look at her. She crosses her legs, her shoes shining in the corner of his eye.

“It’s normal.” He lets out a grunt not knowing how to stop feeling less embarrassed.

She seems to notice his lack of success and laughs. She closes her notebook.

“Richard- _she says slowly in a tone that is meant to make one give in their trust_ , your healer wasn’t lying when he told you this world is tricky, and that this body is beyond everything you have ever lived within.”

She gets up from her place in front of him and starts walking around the room. “Tell me Richard, where did you get the name from, your healer tells me you chose the name purposefully with no further knowledge on the names of this planet?” 

He feels a bubble of guilt within him rise up, he feels like purging everything from his body suddenly.

_A red flag._

_Hide._

His body vibrates in a recoiling fear.

He coughs trying to find a way to act cool. “Uh, I- a voice in my head told me so?”

The woman seems to stop in her tracks before she continues. “Oh, that is quite normal, many of these beings still stay in their respective bodies after our transfer, while others fade away.”

 _Fade away.._ He doesn’t know why but it does not sit well with his soul. 

She comes back to sit down in front of him. Twirling her pen with a smile that seems to content for his appreciation. “My voice gave me the name Jennifer...In fact, I took over Jennifer’s life as a whole because I found it quite suitable. But Jennifer, is no longer with us, she left _peacefully_ and now I get to make the world a suitable and peaceful place too.” Jennifer tells him with a smile that disturbs him deeply. 

He’s about to tell her he feels quite nauseous so that he is permitted to leave, but the blonde woman from earlier interrupts them. 

Jennifer tells him to wait a moment while she talks to the woman. 

_You have to leave before they do more harm._

_You can’t let them find the others._

A voice that resembles his own, tells him weakly.

_Please_.

“Please what!?” He yells out loud without realizing, this causes both women to look at him curiously. 

As he ducks his head to avoid further suspicion he hears Jennifer tell the woman “He’s ready I believe..”

* * *

The next day he’s awoken at the dawn of day, and told to follow them to an oddly small room.

The woman comes back and finally introduces herself. Wearing white from head to toe, and her hair blonde in a tight strict ponytail that seems to make her face tighten and seem even more harsh. 

“Richard..We have not been properly introduced, but I am a seeker, I will guide you into helping us find those who are blinded by their hate for us to see that we are here to _help_ them.” 

He nods because he’s afraid if he questions this he’ll lose his body. 

He means _this_ body. 

She paces back and forth and signals him to sit down in front of the table. A pencil and notebook at its surface.

“It has come to my attention that, your name originally belongs to the body you host?” She asks curiously.

He snaps his head up and before he can stop himself, “It’s _my body_.” The voice in his head getting weaker by the day tells him to stay calm or else they’ll get caught.

She arches an eyebrow at his statement and makes her way towards him slowly. When she reaches him she spreads out her hands on each side of the table and tells him in a stern whisper.

“I sure hope it’s your body because you will help us find the unfortunate rogue humans who believe we are harming their planet and lives...When we are simply just _enhancing_ it.” 

Ricky nods, moving his gaze away from her bright irises, the only sign of their presence. He feels the soul within the woman’s body, mocking him for being weak enough to fall for these humans.

He hasn’t fallen for them.

_Not yet_ , the voice adds.

He respects _his own_ and trusts that there is no harm done. 

_Wait till you see what they do._ The voice adds with one last push. 

And then he’s deep within his own mind, haunted by the memories of this body’s life. He sees himself, Richard Bowen, also known as Ricky, skateboarding through the streets with two people, a boy seemingly his same age, with red fiery hair and a girl, with long brown hair, and a smile that shines brighter than any of the stars he’s ever seen. He hears himself say you guys are my best friends, before his mind jumps to another memory, him running away alongside his friends, who seem beyond tired, and exhausted, he sees himself counting to three in an abandoned building while also telling the boy and girl to join his father, and the others in? 

_No. Please no._

_In-_

Before he yells, and suddenly people are chasing him, seekers? And he jumps.

That’s how it ends, that’s how his life ended.

Richard- Ricky suddenly nods, while blinking excessively. 

He’s trying to process and make sense of all that he had just learned and witnessed. They were being chased? _But why, souls were all about peaceful surrender and not forceful interaction._

He suddenly realizes that the seeker is still here. She looks at him, quizzically. “You saw something! What did you see?” 

_Please don’t._

_Keep then safe, please. For me._ The voice tells him with one final push. And then it’s quiet.

“I saw two people, a boy and a girl about his age...They we’re heading somewhere, towards the desert... A safe haven for humans.” He lets out slowly, as his gut clenches. 

* * *

After handing in a sketch of both teenagers and a possible outline of the desert, he is filled with guilt and loss, things he has never felt with this much depth. 

While Ricky falls asleep regretting his every choice, in the desert somewhere a girl about the age of his body, moves across a field of homegrown wheat. 

Gina Porter was merely 15 when the Hosts had found their way onto Earth. From one day to another she watched her new school mates lose their eyesight to constellations. Neon spectres surround their irises, all of them. 

She does the only thing that she knows how to do; run, so she runs until she can’t breathe anymore.

The thing about Gina is that, she never had a place to call home, from switching schools after 4 months to her mother’s constant job emergencies, she never had anything constant. 

As she ran for her life, from these oddly nice strangers, she realized she had to quickly notify her mom. But it seems she might have been too late. Her mother’s nonchalant, rather monotone voice, with a hint of lack warmth told Gina everything she needed to know. Her mother was no longer hers. 

In a day they had taken over half of the United States, god knows how many of the other countries were taken. 

Gina ran and hid, for the better of 2 years alone, before she found a couple of others runaways to tag along with. EJ was a tall athletic looking guy who seemed too self absorbed for his own good, while his red haired cousin, Ashlyn, was nothing short of nice. 

As the months went by they got to know each other through sleepless sweaty nights of running and hiding, and long days of searching abandoned houses for food. Never anything permanent though. She learned that EJ had lost contact with his parents, and his girlfriend, the only person he had left was his cousin and he was grateful. She learned that he was a rising med student and wanted nothing but to help the world. (A real cliche dreamboat if you ask her). 

Ashlyn, talked about how when she was young she dreamed of broadway, and singing. And then EJ busted out his worst voice and started singing as Ash tackled him to the floor, and they all laughed as night changed into day. She told them that they were the closest thing she had ever had to friends, and they hugged her while laughing softly, and telling her they loved her.

She had friends, a family even despite the dire circumstances. As their union hit a year they heard murmurs of a safe haven for all the humans who had survived. It was run by one of their old friend’s dad, apparently. 

It was said to be found near Colorado’s desert, they spent a week assembling supplies, to last them in the desert, and while going from abandoned house to house they came across three teens.

EJ ran to the brown haired girl, “Nini, you’re safe!” He said into her hair, while the rest of the teens waited in silence to be introduced. Gina guessed, she was EJ’s girlfriend he had lost contact with. 

She remembers how EJ described her, a girl that smelled like summer and shined like stars, a bit cheesy but still cute she thought.

Two years of not seeing her must’ve been horrendous for him. And suddenly she thought of her life, her lack of a family, EJ had Nini, his cousin, he had a family whilst she had lost her mom, and her dad even longer ago. Her heart broke a bit, but she smiled despite the group starting to get to know each other. 

As EJ held Nini’s hand, she explained how she and a guy she referred solely as Big Red for some reason, had met Kourtney, while they were escaping from a new group of Hosts a couple of months back. She then turned to the red haired boy and he nodded. Nini told them they had lost Ricky, to which Ashlyn and EJ responded terribly, both of them looking down and taking a moment of silence. 

Gina not knowing who Ricky was decided to stay mum about it. She knew that he clearly meant a lot. And was somehow glad she did not know him. Because god knows how much more people she could lose. And how much more pain she could feel. 

A week later they finally found themselves at the safe haven. And it’s so much more than that. They can finally eat, and clean themselves in peace. The mountains are a smart and easy place to hide. Ricky’s father, _Mike,_ had planned out the humongous space in different sectors, using the caves natural geysers as showers and baths, and the rest as room for everyone. He even devised a genius way of indoor gardening, he had found a way to grow wheat from inside the cave. 

And this is where she was currently, her hands swaying in between the grains, as Ricky ran for his life.

* * *

Ricky likes to think he’s smart, that he has the knowledge of all of his past lives within his soul, but he fucking does not. 

He’s pacing around his room, debating if he should run and warn the humans or stay here and let the seeker take over. 

He had overheard the seeker discussing with the guards outside his door that she would take over Ricky’s body to search his memories more properly. And that made him want to hurl. 

He was afraid for his- _Ricky’s friends_. Despite the voice having left his soul and mind, he is left with caring and deep feelings for them. 

They matter to him. 

So he runs. Or rather jumps. 

Yeah he jumps 10 feet into a pool before walking out soaking wet while every other host minded their business. 

Maybe this wouldn’t be so hard after all. 

* * *

Except it is, because he has to lie to so many souls and he’s never lied to anyone. Not a single lifetime of his had required a lie, and now he’s lying to a poor old man for his car to go to a place he isn’t even sure of. 

But then his heart plummets and the idea of his- humans being abused in this manner, so he drives into the night as fast as he can. 

And somehow within the remains of his old soul he knows just where _home_ is.

* * *

“We’ve gotten word of a host being found.” She hears Mike say, before he heads out with the men of their group of survivors. 

Gina quirks a brow and slowly follows them out. She catches up to EJ, and loops his arm with hers. “So what’s that supposed to mean?” She asks him as they walk cautiously out of the narrow mine-like passage. 

EJ snorts. “Aren’t you supposed to be somewhere in the wheat field looking like some indie heroine?” Gina hits his arm playfully before glaring at him. 

“Okay! Okay, it just means that they found a hosted human that we might be able to save.” 

_Saved? Was that even possible?_ Her brows scrunch up and it seems EJ must've noticed.

“Yeah, apparently the people here have been trying and been successful in taking out hosts from human bodies and restoring those humans to their original selves.” 

Something about that sentence fills Gina with hope and fear. 

EJ bids her farewell, she watches him leave with 10 other men and boys, not knowing that the person they were about to bring back was going to change the course of everything.

* * *

He’s losing his mind, he thinks, as he walks under the sun, his skin burning, god these humans are quite weak. 

His lips are falling apart, his skin cracking and ripping at the surface and he doesn’t know how much longer he’ll be able to last without a proper drink of water. 

“Come on, come on Ricky..” He whispers to himself as his feet burn within his shoes. Sand in between his toes eating away at his skin. 

He slowly sinks to his knees, the sun hitting him in a manner that he has never ever felt. His eyes close and he falls into a deep slumber.

He thinks it’s end as he feels his soul giving up too, until water splashes to his face. A man surrounding but countless others circle him. 

“Ricky! Ricky, it’s you!” He hears the man say, it’s- he’s Ricky’s father. 

Ricky takes the water in his hands drinks it empty and gasps, “Mike, dad, I have to tell you something it’s important-“ 

But as soon as he opens his eyes the men disperse away from him. He’s confused and hurt at the distance between him and everyone. And then it hits him, his eyes aren’t Ricky’s eyes. 

Ricky looks at all of them, hate in their eyes, except for one, he seems just as distraught as Mike, he can faintly hear the boy whisper, _“Ricky… No.”_

He hears them whisper around Mike, the man seems distraught, hurt and internally fighting himself. “Shoot him.”

_“He’s not your son.”_

_“He could have been sent to destroy us.”_

Mike brushes them all off and pushes Ricky to his feet forcefully with not an ounce of fatherly affection. He might not know what affection is but he does know that this is not it. 

The older man blindfolds him and they start walking. 

He tries to tell them that he can help them but they don’t listen. 

* * *

Gina is walking within the various tunnels awaiting EJ and the men when she hears shuffling and loud footsteps. 

She crushes herself against one of the cave walls and hides. It’s a shit hideout but the men are so wrapped in their own conversation that they don’t seem to even notice her. 

They walk past her, with a guy she’s never seen before, he’s blindfolded, and hair in messy dirty curls. The boy seems calm and ready to take any orders which is quite unusual. 

She peaks her head out as the men take off his blindfold and then she sees them, his eyes. Stars within his eyes, something she’s ran from for the past 3 years. She quickly and quietly runs away. 

* * *

EJ joins her and the rest of the gang as they’re eating supper. He seems beat up about his day. He’s rubbing his forehead when Nini leans into his side and asks him quietly what’s wrong. He looks at her with the most heartbreaking gaze. “Neens, we found him, Ricky.” 

So that was Ricky. 

She gasps in joy already getting up, alongside Red to go pay Ricky a visit. But EJ holds onto her arm right. 

“Nini, it’s a host.” And that stops her dead in her tracks. Her face is overtaken by disgust, fear and loss of words. She sits down and starts sobbing, Ashlyn hides her face in Nini’s side, while Red turns his gaze away and Kourtney sighs looking up at where the sky would be. 

Gina feels out of place, she never really grieved someone, sure her mom was gone, but it’s not as if she hadn’t been gone for most of her life. 

When Gina was a kid her mom would leave for days, weeks maybe even a month at most. Gina would stay with her neighbors, people her mom knew here and there. Her mother was moving and working to save the world, and help people and that was inspiring yes, but Gina missed her mom. As she grew up they started moving around together, never at peace though.   
  


And she never met her father. He was never really in the picture nor did her mother talk about him much. So she didn’t grieve much. Or get attached. She distanced herself from the group, and let them mourn the loss of a lifelong friend.

* * *

Hours later while everyone was sleeping, Gina found herself in her bed with her eyes wide open. She slowly got up and made her way through the cave tunnels. As she walked she heard shuffling coming from one of the off limit rooms. She slowly made her towards it, ignoring the pleas of her sleep deprived mind. As she comes closer she hears someone talking.

_“What did I expect?”_

_“Maybe this was a bad idea.”_

_“No, no! Ricky said to protect them, and that’s what’ll do..”_

Except she can’t go further, EJ, is guarding his door. When EJ sees her approach his sleepy eyes open wide in worry. “Go back to sleep!” He whispers. His whispers make the host stop his shuffling and talking. 

Gina tries to think of a way to get EJ to leave because yeah unfortunately she is too curious for her own good. She tells him she can take his shift, he seems reluctant saying it’s his job and that it’s fine but she saw he was 2 seconds away from falling asleep, so she pulled at his heart strings. Sue her.

“Nini was mumbling in her sleep, maybe you should go and lay down next to her, yeah?”

His brows shoot up, and he leaves the gun in her hands with words of caution that go in one ear and comes out the other. 

She waits for him to leave before peeking into the room. His back is towards her. His fingers clutching the side of his jeans, he seems tense. 

“Uh hey!” She says without even knowing what the hell she’s doing. He turns abruptly towards her, confused. 

His eyes, every time she sees them, it’s like she’s staring straight into a galaxy, stars and comets floating and circling a black hole. She’s so mesmerized by his eyes that when he moves slightly towards her, her hands hold the gun to her chest. 

He raises a hand cautiously, looks at her carefully. “I’m not going to hurt you.” 

And something within her heart believes it. 

Believes _him._

She thinks it’s kind of ironic how he’s the one telling her, he won’t hurt her, when she’s the one with a loaded gun in her hand. So she does the same, she puts her hand up and puts the gun in her back pocket. 

He seems surprised, shocked. She brushes it off, nods at him and walks back outside the room. 

She pushes herself against one of the walls beside the entrance and sits down on the ground, and he does the same except he sits inside the room. If she tilted her head far enough right, she could see his curls overlapping at the entrance. 

Silence fills the tunnels, the only noise coming from lights buzzing, the faint currents of the inactive volcanic waters of the room in which they cleaned up, and their breathing.   
  


So she breaks it, “What’s your name?” He hesitates before answering. “Ricky.” He says,

“Ricky...Wasn’t that, _his_ name?” She tries to ask as non-invasively, because they both know he is not Ricky Bowen. He coughs, “I, uh yeah, but I’ve come to like it, and you know I still do technically have his memories, so there’s an emotional attachment…” He drags out. 

“Oh, I didn’t know you had his memories...Does this mean he’s still alive?” She asks quietly. 

When he doesn’t answer, she knows. He tells her he’s sorry. “I didn’t know him, but thank you.” 

Silence envelops them again but this time it’s a bit more comfortable. She tilts her head unconsciously towards the opening of the room, towards him. 

“What’s your name?” He asks softly. “Gina.” She tells him without a second doubt, or concern. 

“Nice to meet you Gina.” He says before she dozes off. 

* * *

She falls asleep after she tells him her name. He peeks out of the room to put a face to her name, and she’s …. His heart stutters and his mind goes blank. 

She’s pretty. Her hair in a low ponytail with her curls falling out. Her skin glows underneath the dim lighting of the caves, she looks like a star on its last few breaths. 

“Gina..” He whispers to himself before closing his eyes too. 

_His first friend._

He wakes up around noon again, apparently he was really fucking tired. His eyes open to harsh light seeping through the entrance of the pit. He peeks out the entrance only to see that Gina has left and been replaced by EJ. 

He sighs to himself a bit disappointed, his heart dropping...Maybe this is what sadness feels like he thinks. 

He gets up and dusts his hands and pants off. As she dusting himself off, Mike comes in and kindly asks him to follow him. 

He holds his hands out so that they can be tied but Mike brushes it off, and just signals him to follow him. They walk through the tunnels, EJ behind him, and Mike explaining to him the purpose of the caves and tunnels. 

“It’s a safe haven, I was already working on before, you, your people came, I was very attached to perfecting it and making it a habitable destination for survivors, but it came more than that.”

Ricky was led to a room with an internal water source. “Inactive volcanoes, also known as geysers, pretty neat right?” Mike asked. 

Ricky marveled at it, how convenient and miraculous it had been for them to have this. Mike gestured him to clean up. So he did. And boy was that needed. 

After that he walks him to this dark room, that’s scattered with stars, Ricky’s eyes go wide, he enters the room without being told to, his eyes scan the sky for homes he has had and stars that he has come to call friends, but he doesn’t know any of the patterns, he never seen anything in this manner. 

His eyes stay glued to the sky as he says with a hint of amazement in his voice, “I’ve never seen these constellations?” 

Mike laughs, and puts a hand on his shoulder, and he feels warm. 

“Because these aren’t constellations...They’re bioluminescent larvaes, almost like fireflies.” 

Ricky smiles and observes this false sky and the beauty of it, before following Mike back to the real world. 

They walk out to the biggest area he has seen within the cave system. It’s huge almost like a field, and in the middle of it there’s actually a field. Mike explains to him they’ve found a way to use mirrors, tons of them to reflect light from outside the cave to the inside and that helps the wheat fields grow. Ricky wants to go and observe it but Mike tells him to eat first. 

Mike is starting to trust him and in some way that makes him feel content, and- something he doesn’t know how to express yet. 

When he sits down on the bench surround the table he feels the eyes of everyone on him. In the corner of his eye he sees EJ reluctant to Mike’s giving him freedom. 

“But it could be a threat!” The boy tells the man. “But he isn’t and he used to be my son, so you’ll respect my wishes and let him roam freely or else you and anyone else who goes against him will be out.” 

He turns slightly to see the boy, named EJ, but catches his gaze accidentally. He seems torn between being horrified and saddened. He turns his head down and unloads his gun. Just as he’s about to put it in his pocket a hand comes and settles itself on his shoulder. The individual comes forward and it’s _her_. 

“Gina..” He lets out before his mind can even comprehend his thoughts. Her eyes follow where her name came from and when she sees him, she smiles slowly, and makes her way towards him.   
  


She settles by his side. And soon he’s the center of attention. EJ, a red headed girl and the brown haired girl and redhead boy join the table hesitantly. She seems heartbroken and afraid. So he holds up his hands and tells them he won’t hurt them. He offers the girl, Nini, his hand and apologizes. She takes it despite EJ stiffening by her side. 

He’s never truly touched anyone at this point, it feels odd but somehow comforting. He looks at her and Red, and smiles. She lets go of his hand and sits down.   
  


He’s eating quietly before Gina nudges at him. “So how many worlds have you visited?” And she’s full of wonders _huh_. 

It amazes him how different she is from what the souls told him about humans, she doesn’t seem afraid of him. 

He smiles, “Seven, actually.” Everyone gasps and looks at him with wonder. It’s not as wonderful as they think. The redhead girl, Ashlyn, he learns, whispers “That’s amazing.”

He continues. “Every world had their differences, unique and beautiful in their own ways but I have never encountered a diverse and world full of such beautiful complexities. Earth is quite special.” He finishes. 

He feels Gina’s soft gaze on the side of his face. His body reacts quite embarrassingly, he feels heat well up from his insides and finds their way to his cheeks and his hands. 

“Oh come you’re all going to believe this?” EJ says in a harsh tone that makes him flinch. “It can kill us and bring us to our end! We have to kill it.” 

He sees Nini trying to calm EJ down but it doesn’t work, so Gina steps in and fuck. 

“EJ back off. He’s got Ricky’s memories…”

Ricky tries to tell her to brush it off but Gina looks at him softly and gives him a smile. 

Everyone looks at him again but this time in amazement. 

“That’s impossible…” EJ lets out. Gina tells him it’s not and that they just haven’t encountered anyone like this. 

“Ricky might be gone but his memories aren’t.” 

Everyone becomes quiet as Gina says that. Nini speaks up finally clearing her throat. “What was his last memory, his last words to us.” 

Ricky looks at her sadly. “He wanted me to warn you guys about the souls, or hosts, and to make sure you were safe.” 

Nini nods and tells him thank you as she pulls EJ and the rest of the crowd away, before a fight breaks loose. 

Ricky lets out a sigh in relief, resting his forehead to the table. “Thanks for that.” He tells her as he raises his face to look at her. 

She looks down at her fingers, avoiding his gaze. “You’re not guilty of anything, why would I let him wrongly accuse you.” She says nonchalantly.

She stands up and starts walking towards a field. 

“And besides, you look like you wouldn’t hurt a fly.” She tells him. 

He quickly moves so he can catch up to her. And when he’s by her side, his shoulder lightly brushing hers he tells her, “It’s because I wouldn’t harm a single living thing.” He tells her seriously. 

She seems a bit wordless and shocked but smiles despite it.

She teaches him how to plow wheat and he thinks it’s the closest he’s been to anyone in any of his lives. 

* * *

He’s amazing and so kind. Ricky isn’t bad or terrible. He isn't here to hurt anyone she knows that much. The way he looks at her as she shows him how to collect the wheat; his gaze concentrated on her hand and the scythe, his brows scrunching up and his tongue sticking out as he tries to perfectly nail her mouvements, he’s so serious. She doesn’t have the heart to tell him it really isn’t that deep. 

So she lets him plow the wheat with his biggest efforts, and when they’re done he falls to the ground on his ass exhausted. Curls drenched in sweat falling to his eyes. She falls next to him, closer than she intended. Her side touching his a bit. 

She blushes maybe. 

She hands him a bottle of water, he drinks it and pours the rest over his head. He then shakes him head a bit, which causes the water to splash over to her. 

“Ew, Ricky!” She screams as she laughs and tries moves away. He catches her arm and brings her back before she can move fully away. 

“This is what you get for making me work so hard!” And it’s nice, a nice banter. He feels warm and safe. 

She looks at him with warmth in every single one of her features. She can’t even hide the content, she feels, because she hasn’t felt this free in a long time. 

They sit like that for a few moments, her legs crossed and his in front of him with his hands draped over his jeans. She ignores the fact that his white shirt is completely wet and that she can see, _because no_. 

By the time one of them breaks the silence, everyone working has left to go to their rooms to rest, and they’re practically alone. 

“You’re my first friend, you know that?” He tells her more as a fact than anything else. 

She can’t believe that. “In the 7 worlds you’ve lived on, I’m your first friend? Somehow I doubt that!” 

He laughs, and focuses on the field in front of them avoiding her gaze. “Hard to believe, but yeah you are, I don’t think I've ever met someone like you Gina.” 

And his voice is so sincere, so honest. She thinks he doesn’t even know how sincere he sounds or how his voice cracked when he said it. 

“You’re mine too.” She tells him. He turns his face abruptly to hers, he seems surprised. But she’s being honest. She hasn’t felt this close to anyone for such a small amount of time, in a long time. 

“Yeah?” He asks a bit breathlessly.

She shyly smiles at him and says “Yeah.” 

He grins so wide, that she thinks he’s about to split his head in half. Yeah he’s pretty. 

* * *

The next few days, he and Gina spend every minute they can together. 

They plow wheat, throw water at each other and laugh until they fall to the ground. She tells him about her mom and how she lost her on the first day they came. He apologizes and hugs her and she tells him it doesn’t matter that she never had a real home or family either way back then. 

He tells her about how in one of the worlds he was what they call on Earth, a seaweed. And she laughs, her head going back, eyes closing and smiles widening. She’s beautiful. 

When she’s done laughing, she apologizes but she finds it quite bizarre and interesting. He brushes it off telling her it’s fine and that it was not as interesting as one would think. He tells her about all the civilizations he’s seen and seen fall and she listened to him with her whole heart. 

And by the time he’s done it’s already night time and he doesn’t really want to say goodbye so he walks her to her room. 

Their shoulders brush back and forth, “Ricky, you’re the kindest person I’ve ever met, maybe even the coolest.” She adds all the whole arching her brows. 

He chuckles. And their fingers brush each other for the first time.   
  


When they arrive at her room, she gives him an unsure smile. “Uh well this is my stop.” He nods, biting his lips and pushing his hands into his pockets.

She swings back and forth on her heels before waving a hand at him. 

And he waves his too. 

“Goodnight Ricky.” She tells him softly.

And he leaves smiling so hard his cheeks hurt. 

* * *

In the morning he’s awakened by Gina and EJ’s voices outside of his room. 

“So do you care about him?!” EJ asks in an accusatory tone. 

“And what if I did?” She asks him with a tone he’s never heard her take. 

“Gina, he’s not even Ricky! It’s something else, and serves us no purpose.” EJ says.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, and stop calling him it, he’s someone! And he can help us, leave me alone.” She yells. He hears footsteps walking away, so he moves to sit up and that’s when she walks in.

Her face scrunched up and mad, her eyes are to the floor as she scoffs. When she sees him awake though she stops in her tracks.

“You heard everything?” He nods. And she sighs, making her way to sit beside him. 

“You didn’t have to do that you know?” He tells her.

She puts her hand to his cheek, and looks at him in the eyes, something she or anyone in here has never done. “Actually I did.” 

His head unconsciously leans into her hand and he feels warmth blooming within his soul, but the warmth is stopped from spreading by the anxiety he feels. 

“You have to know something..” He says quietly. And she waits, telling him she’s listening. 

So he tells her about the seeker, about being forced to tell them about Nini and Red and this place. 

She listens, never once stopping him. 

He tells her about how he was able to talk to Ricky and get to know him before he eventually left, he talks about how he got attached and knew that he had to warn them about the souls, the seekers.

He also tells her about how he doesn’t want this war, he never wanted to hurt anyone including Ricky. 

She nods slowly, and smiles, her hand still on his cheek. “We have to tell Mike.” 

Ricky doesn’t want to but he knows he has to. 

So they go to tell everyone together. Ricky grips Gina’s hand as they find Mike. And then they tell him. 

* * *

Mike sighs and puts a hand to Ricky’s shoulder. “Thank you for telling us...Ricky.” 

They’re about to leave Mike, but Ricky needs to let them know one more thing. He turns around and coughs. Everyone looks at him including Gina. “I know you must think I, us, the souls are terrible, that we’ve ruined so many lives, but not all of us are ill intentioned, we never wanted to hurt you, we were brought up to be peaceful and make the lives of those we come in contact with better. But I have realized that better doesn’t always mean the best for one. So I respect your fight, but I also respect my people.” 

The men nod, and even look down, he knows that most of them would have never been able to push their pride down and admit to something as honest but he doesn’t hold it against them, they thought for a long time that this was meant to be a violent war, but it doesn’t have to be. 

When he turns back he expects to see Gina waiting for him but she isn’t. His mind goes blank. 

He searches across the tunnels to find her, asking Nini, Kourtney, Red and even EJ, they all tell him the same thing; they haven’t seen her. 

He’s searched the tunnels 3 times but he still can’t find her. His hands go up to his forehead rubbing it furiously trying to figure out where she is. He then spots Mike pulling back the mirrors of the wheat field so that the light doesn’t attract attention from the outside. 

Ricky walks up to him. “Have you seen Gina?” 

The older man glances at the field, and Ricky says that she’s not there. Mike sighs. 

“There’s one place, where she goes sometimes, it’s her alone place though kiddo…” He lets out. 

Ricky looks at him in a pleading manner, and Mike gives in. 

“She’s outside...There's a path to your left that leads to outside the tunnels onto a ledge that lets us observe the view, if any hosts are near. She goes there sometimes, it’s her little place.” 

Ricky tells him thank you and starts moving but Mike’s hand catches his arm, “You like her son?” 

He doesn’t need to think before he says “Yeah.”

Mike smiles and pats him on the back before walking away.

* * *

He finds her outside, back to him, her hair flowing in the summer breeze. The sun is setting slowly in front of her. It’s quite stunning if you ask him. 

He walks slowly towards and sits next to her. She tries to pretend that she didn’t notice but sees her flinch when his thigh touches hers. She keeps on staring forward into the view in front of her, her face as emotionless as she can be, but he can see tears at the corner of her eye. 

He cautiously wipes them off, she doesn’t look at him instead looking down at her hands and tell him thank you.

He does the only thing he can think of, the first thing they ever did. He brushes his shoulder to hers. “What’s wrong?”

She sniffs taking in a shaky breath. “Are you- are you going to leave? Because it’s okay if you do, you can, _I_ want you to be happy with you people and everyone that makes you content.” She lets out without a pause. 

And his heart aches, he’s never felt this way 

His fingers rise up to her cheek, her eyes close at the contact. In all of his lives he’s never felt like this. He’s overwhelmed, feeling emotions he never thought were possible. He remembers Jennifer telling him humans were capable of feeling an enormous amount of things and that those things would lead to their sympathy and downfall.

But he doesn’t want sympathy, or their downfall. He wants them to win, to persist because they deserve to be their own. He doesn’t want to win, he wants her.

Her head leans in close to his as she turns her body around to face his. She holds his face in her hands as their foreheads touch.

It’s like something was missing in all of his lifetime and those thousand of years spent out of her reach. 

This planet, earth, this individual, 

“ _You_ make _me_ happy.” He tells his voice quivering. “I don’t see myself anywhere but by your side Gina.”

“Ricky, you don’t have to-“ She sighs. 

He pushes his face a bit back and urges her to open her eyes, so she does. And there are tears streaming down her face. “ _I do have to_ , and it’s true. I have never felt warmth the way I feel with you, you’re the only person who has ever seen me for me not for what they thought to be true, I feel- _he hesitates_ , I feel very deeply for you.” 

She laughs through her tears. “I feel deeply for you too, Ricky.” 

* * *

He's staring at her, irises shining, softest eyes she’s ever seen in her whole life, and she can’t help but laugh. 

So she allows herself to be vulnerable. 

“You feel like home, a home I’ve never had the luxury of having.” She tells him.

It’s true, she never had a constant force, but him? He’s an anchor despite knowing him for only two weeks, her mind and soul feel connected to him in a way she has never felt with anyone. 

And then he’s crying, his hands let go of her to touch his cheeks and he seems surprised. His eyes scan the drops of water curiously. He’s probably never cried. She wipes them off for him, and he smiles at her, her heart is about to burst she thinks. 

“You’re crying.” She says grinning. He tangles one of his fingers to a loose curl and says, “So are you.” 

She laughs, and she thinks she’s never laughed this much in the last 5 years. “Yeah.” 

She raises her eyes to look at him and finds him already staring at her. The sun’s last rays make his eyes shine brighter, his skin glows in hues of red and orange, as his eyes pool with stars made of neon lights. 

It’s captivating, so she does the only thing she can think of, she leans in and kisses him. 

He kisses her back hesitantly, his hand going up to the side of her face, in her hair. He pulls back, he’s afraid, she thinks. It hits her, that he's probably never done this.

So she curls her fingers at the back of his neck and runs them slowly within his hair to soothe him, calm him down. 

She brushes her nose against his, “It's okay, it’s okay…”

She doesn’t lean in, she waits for him to trust her, waits for him to be comfortable. He lets out a shaky breath, his breath mingling with hers. And then he kisses her, a peck, her lips tremble at the light touch. Afraid he’s pulling back for good, but then he dives in and kisses her. She can’t breathe. 

She doesn’t really want to breathe. She gives as much as she can and takes as much as he gives, before it’s all too much and they end up pulling apart breathing hard and hearts beating faster than they ever have. 

He rests his forehead against hers. “Would it be crazy if I told you, it feels as if I was meant to find you.” 

She smiles, “Not if I can tell you the same.” 

And he lets out a hearty laugh, his curls golden in the faded sunlight. 

* * *

Hours later they’re still outside but this time on their backs looking at the stars.

She takes his hand between hers and plays with his fingers. 

“It’s a strange world.” He looks at her then, his irises glowing, smiling at her. “The strangest.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. So this is the longest work, chapter I’ve ever written, because I actually focused on the plot, but despite it I did pull out some things from the story, but yes here you go The Host au no one asked for, but I loved Ian and Wanda so much so I had to write this with rina!! Next chapter will either be The Flash au or something .. very different!
> 
> Again kudos and comments are appreciated and find me @lindaspark on tumblr <3


	5. The Heart Asks for Pleasure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His hair is combed back, but a strand of his natural hair falls forward, a curl dangling from his forehead to his right eye, it doesn’t seem to phase him. His black bow tie contrasts the white button down well enough. His apron stained with water and probably some champagne.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> V. A boy and his princess.

“You’re quite talented,” she hears a voice say behind her. 

She abruptly closes the piano and wipes her hands on her black dress. Her hands are suddenly awfully sweaty, her cheeks heat up at the indecency of it all. She stands up and makes her way towards the mysterious voice at the end of the dining hall. 

Not too tall, the figure leans against one of the columns holding the ceiling and it’s huge chandelier from falling to the marble floor that she has waltzed around countless times.

His hair is combed back, but a strand of his natural hair falls forward, a curl dangling from his forehead to his right eye, it doesn’t seem to phase him. His black bow tie contrasts the white button down well enough. His apron stained with water and probably some champagne. She thinks about it.

She’s seen him walking past her and the various guests of her mother’s lavish event, for quite some time, but never has he ever spoken to her.  
None of the waiters do, they’re forbidden to speak to the employer or to her daughter. 

She _likes_ that he’s a rule breaker. 

“And should you know? Because you heard me play just now?”  
“Just once.” She adds with a twirl of her index through the air. 

He stands straight and shoves his hands into his black dress pants. “Well it’s not the first I’ve heard you play…. _Princess Genevieve_.” 

And the way he says her name sends a shiver across her body. She turns her back to him to walk towards the glossy instrument. As she hears her heels click on the marble floor she looks over her shoulder and signals him to follow her. And he does almost immediately, stumbling over his own feet. 

She sits down and laughs into her hand as a blush creeps over his cheeks. She scoots over enough for him to sit but not enough for him to not let the pinafore of her dress. Something about that non physical touch thrills her. 

They sit there quietly for a second or two before she urges him to open the piano and touch its keys. His fingers brush over them, delicately. His fingers are long, slender and calloused at the sides. She wants to touch them. 

So she does. She puts her hand over his. She feels a tremble run through his body as her fingers touch his. But she’s not sure if it’s actually him or her. And then she starts playing. Her fingers against and between his own and her other hand against the actual keys. The cool of the keys in contrast to the warmth and softness of his skin, sends a flutter up her spine. _The Heart Asks for Pleasure._ As the hand under hers, understands the pattern and melody of the piece the other hand joins in. 

It’s a messy piece, quick and hard, elegant but chaotic. She opted for the faster paced version because the original piece is far too slow, far too personal for her liking. And she barely knows the boy. Right now her heart feels nothing but intrigue for the boy. Nothing else. 

_Nothing else?_ Her mind echos.

She brings back her attention to their joined hands and his other hand playing on his own side. His hands are graceful as they slide from key to key, like an already learned recital that he’s done so many times.  
Her fingers continue to follow him as he takes the lead. She smiles as they reach the final few notes. Their fingers rapidly try to catch up to each other. And when it’s over their fingers stay entwined. 

His head turns towards her and smiles. A big toothy smile. Her heart melts a bit. “See I told you, you were quite talented…” 

“And you are too,” She arches her brow trying to gouge out his name from him without being too obvious.

“Richard.” He offers her. 

“We should play again some other time, Richard.” She drags as she lifts her skirts and walks away slowly. 

She feels his gaze on the back of her head as she hears him close the piano. 

“Goodnight, Princess Genevieve.”

* * *

Unbeknownst to the both of them, her mother leaves in the night. She wakes up to her mother’s consultant, Jennifer telling her that she had to leave due to a conflict between two smaller kingdoms at the farthest region near their border. 

* * *

“Oh Gina, sweetie don’t frown, you know your mother wouldn’t miss the weeks preceding your birthday for anything in the whole world? She just has to take care of this okay?” Jennifer tells her as soon as she sees Gina’s face fall into a state of sadness. 

Gina turns her head towards the older redhead, and smiles. “I know…Besides we had the ball yesterday right? I spent some time with her before she left again..” She lets out with a forced smile. 

Jennifer comes to sit next to her, the bed dipping in her presence. She wraps her arms around Gina’s shoulders and pulls her into her. Her head tucks under Jennifer’s chin. And she sighs. Jennifer is the second closest thing she had to a mother. When her mother would leave for days, weeks and even months, Jennifer would care for her and tend to her as her mother did. Less strict, she even let Gina be on her own sometimes.

“I appreciate you ardently Jennifer.” She tells the woman, as the latter moves away and crosses her room to reach the door. The redhead pokes her head from the door, and gives her a soft smile. “Love you too kiddo.” 

And with that Gina slumps back to bed. 

But before she can fall asleep again, Jennifer knocks multiple times on her door and tells her to get up for breakfast and morning classes. She groans into her pillows. 

Thankfully she learned how to put on her own garments and corsets. She didn’t really appreciate the idea of a girl her own age being forced to live in her house, and do all of her work and help her with her daily tasks instead of learning and growing. So Gina had her mother supply the young girl they had hired, a decent amount of money and let her go. 

Of course that was when she was 14, now she’s 19 and slightly regretting the loss of a potential friend. Just slightly though. 

She looks at herself in the huge dressing table mirror. It's decorated with gold painted vines, and cherubs dancing around its contour. Her face seems to be glowing despite Gina’s rather somber mood. She applies a light lip tint and ties her hair into a sophisticated yet messy bun and makes her way downstairs for breakfast. 

As she’s eating and as Jennifer tells her about her daily lessons she recognizes a familiar figure at the corner of her eye. 

Except he’s wearing white gloves and holding a platter of fruits and assortments of cheese. She keeps her gaze away from his, and he seems to do the same. 

Jennifer’s eyes widen on the subject of something that sounds particularly important but Gina can’t focus on anything but the heat creeping up on the left side of her face. The side of her face he had seen. 

She doesn’t need to turn around to feel his gaze on the back of her head, as he stands by the doors of the dining area, awaiting their request. 

She bows her head down, pretending to look thoroughly at the plate in front of her but her appetite is no longer in need of food. 

She tries to slyly glance towards him, but her thoughts are interrupted by the older woman; “Genevieve? Are you listening?”

She sees him flinch and quickly turn his gaze away from her, as she coughs to regain her composure. 

“Why yes! Yes I am listening.” 

“So you agree with the proposition that your 20th birthday should be one where suitors are invited to come and speak with you?” 

She almost chokes. She sees him move towards her and offers her a refill of water. Her gaze doesn’t reach him but she nods. “I- Uh suitors, whatever for?” She asks in innocently, dreading the obvious reply. 

Jennifer tilts her head and sighs. “Gina, you are to turn 20, old enough to rule your mother’s kingdom if anything were to happen.. You need to be accompanied by an equally strong ally both in your legal partnership and _romantic_ relationship.” 

She blinks once and then twice, she can’t say anything more. It had to come sooner or later. She fought with her mother numerous times about suitors and not wanting to get married without feeling emotionally tied to the other party, but her mother argued. “Gina there will be a time where you understand that life doesn’t slow down because of love, it doesn’t wait for love to bend and twist to fulfill its destiny. It does so despite it. All that I can hope is that you fall in love with the person who is best for our kingdom.” 

She knew her mother never gave much thought to love. The older woman had never really loved Gina’s own father, they were merely business partners, allies against a war. And when he died she let it be, and didn’t shed a single tear. 

She sighed then, and nodded at Jennifer. No amount of heartache or butterflies would persuade her mother otherwise. No man of lower rank or useless to the kingdom would be acknowledged as her suitor, not even the person whom her heart would eventually desire the most.

Jennifer gave her a smile and a nod and continued talking. Gina was so overcome with her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed Richard leave the room.

After breakfast, she made her way to her ballroom dancing classes. Slowly but surely she twirled around the room with the five heavy books upon her head, as concentrated as ever, but then she hears someone cautiously playing the piano. 

The books fall to the floor and are forgotten. She picks up her numerous heavy skirt layers and runs towards the melody as her instructor calls her name. 

She runs through the halls letting her heels stomp the floors and echo against the walls. She feels oddly free as she scares the birds and maids away with her running. 

When she arrives at the ballroom she finds it empty, with its piano nowhere near touched and his presence not gracing the room. Her chest heaves, “I’m going mad…” She lets out as she catches her breath.

But then she hears it again, someone playing the piano. Her head spins around the room to pinpoint exactly which direction it’s coming from. And then she walks. 

She walks slowly but surely towards the growing sound of music until she’s facing the quarters of the people who are staffed to be at her mother and her disposal. She observes the door, collecting her bearings and pushing a strand of her loose curl behind her ear before she opens the door quietly.

His back is to her. The room is small but comfy. Her mother might’ve only seen them as the help but she did give them all the luxuries of living within a palace including rooms that resembled their own. 

He was seated in front of a wooden piano, not varnished, barely holding itself up, it’s edges were losing their colour, and it’s sound now that she was close was quite odd. But still he played. _The Heart Asks for Pleasure._ She walks into the room as still as a mouse. He doesn’t seem to suspect the open door, or her presence. 

She’s now peering from his shoulder, his hands replay again and again the first few notes of the piece but he groans he can’t seem to get the hang of it. Her fingers reach out and touch the keys that lead to the next notes of the piece, without even thinking.

As soon as her fingers touch the keys he freezes. She smirks. She hears him gulp as she settles down next to him. They are pressed close together, seeing as the chair is not as large as the previous chair they had the chance of sitting on. But she finds the friction of his dress pants against her dress quite pleasant. 

She doesn’t look at him fearing he would have the same effect she has on him. She slowly plays the notes, and stops waiting for him to get a hang of it. His fingers hesitantly reach out for the keys she’s just touched. His brows are pulled together and his mouth twists in this unpleasant and confused expression. 

_He’s afraid of embarrassing himself in front of her._

She hates that he feels that way, he shouldn’t. No one should. She’s not any different than them, flesh and bones, and a heart. She is just as humane as them. 

So she takes his hand, like she did so many moons ago. Her lips tremble at the contact but she remains composed. What she doesn’t see is that his tremble too. 

And then she starts playing. Again overcome with the flow of the piece she lets herself go, and she feels him follow her. He follows her and she feels free. Once she hears him get the hang of it, she slowly withdraws her fingers from his and stands up. She makes her way towards the door intending on leaving without any exchange but as she opens the door, back to him she hears him stop. 

And then abrupt footsteps as he struggles to get up. She turns around and sees him breathing hard, for what reason she doesn’t quite know. 

“You’re leaving?” He asks her his gaze, not leaving her eyes. 

“I- Uh yes.” She says bowing her head at him. As soon as she does the gesture he quickly does the same. “I’m sorry, I just got carried away your highness I didn’t mean to disrespect you-“ He tells her quickly. 

Her brows knit together. “Whatever disrespect do you mean?” 

He bows his head towards her again, an arm against his chest and the other behind his back. 

_Oh._

“Don’t worry about it, Richard, I shouldn’t have intruded either way, I’m sorry about that.” She tells him. He nods at her with a tight smile, turning around and it seems like the end of that. She could leave, and he would let her. 

The air is charged with what they both heard this morning, but he doesn’t dare ask and she doesn’t dare hope that he cares.

_Why should he? Gina, you only met the guy this is madness!_

So she opens the door, and leaves. 

* * *

She doesn’t see him for a while afterwards. Maybe due to their dire circumstances or maybe because she’s purposely avoiding him, who knows. 

She ignores the way her heart flutters when she hears the piano play in the distant, or how sometimes her bare fingers brush against his gloved ones when he’s serving her platters of food. 

They subtly avoid each other while longing for another for one more week, until one night where she wakes up unable of falling asleep again. 

She makes her way towards the garden, meaning to sit and enjoy the peaceful breeze of the night, but she’s startled to find a figure by the fountain. Hunched on its edges admiring the water in front of them. 

It’s him. How is she always finding her way back to him? She doesn’t question it, only wraps her arms around her body, as the breeze hits her senses a bit too hard. 

She walks towards him, this time soundly to make her presence known so that there is no surprise. As he hears her footsteps he straightens up. He stands tall with his arms around his back. 

She makes her way beside him. When he notices that it’s her, his eyes grow soft without even meaning too, and a smile grows on her lips. “Good evening _Princess Genevieve._ ” 

She laughs a bit. “It’s past 2 in the morning, I doubt it qualifies as ‘evening’ Richard.” He gives her a small laugh. It makes her heart skip. 

“That is fair. What would you call this time of the day then _Princess_ ?” He asks her, looking at her with no objections, no filter. He looks at her. 

_Princess,_

His gaze burns the side of her face. She can’t look at him. Does he feel the same way she does? He can’t. _She barely feels anything. Or does she?_

She doesn’t know, she doesn’t god. But she feels something, within her gut, a tension within her rising, something that only rises when he’s near. 

_Come on you’ve known him for 3 weeks max Genevieve, she thinks to herself._

_And?_ For once in your lifetime risk it, risk something for yourself.

The water in front of them reflects their current position well enough. His head is towards her, his side turning towards her own body, like he can’t help himself. He’s waiting for her answer. 

The only sounds filling this moment is the sound of her heart pounding and the water pouring within the fountain. She turns her body slowly towards his, as the wind picks up. His hair floats in the air as hers covers her face. 

In a second, his hands are on her face pushing away her curls. His fingers push back the curls behind her ear, his touch lingering on her cheek as he pulls away. 

He coughs to clear the air, but at this point there’s nothing much either of them can do to prevent what was about to happen. 

Without giving him a glance she says, “This is a time where _anything_ can happen.” His gaze which he had turned back towards the water, finds its way to the side of her face. 

“What?” 

“You asked me what I would call this moment of the day, and I- I say it’s a time where anything can happen.” 

When he doesn’t say anything, she continues, her fingers fidgeting with her ring finger. 

These are dangerous waters, dangerous territories. 

“Out of sight and out of mind, a time when the sun is long gone and yet so close to rising. It’s as if we were cheating reality, we are in between it all. The rise and the descend of the sun.”

“Anything.” She adds. And then she looks down back at the water. 

He waits a beat. “Like what?” 

And she closes her eyes exhaling. She turns to face him. He’s taken aback by the lack of distance between them. His eyes grow wide, his mouth hangs a bit, but he doesn’t move back. He doesn’t push her away either. 

His gaze falls to her lips, she trembles at the sight. She doesn’t know how but suddenly they’re nose to nose. His eyes flutter close as she pushes herself to her toes to reach the small height difference they have. 

“Genevieve….”

Suddenly there’s no princess, no future suitors, no thoughts of their class differences. Only them.

Her and him. 

“I-“ She begins without knowing what she’s going to say. There’s nothing to say. 

And then he closes the gap. He closes it and she’s never been more grateful for awaiting somebody else to act on first.

Since she was a child Gina, could never wait for someone else to commit first to anything they would often take too much time, or weren’t ready to fully finish what they started, she grew impatient. 

But right now she was nothing more than happy, as he moved his lips against hers slowly. His hands found their way in the side of her face and tangled into her curls. 

When they both needed to pull away to catch a breath, he brushed his nose against hers lovingly, and she smiled. He held her face close to his, and her hands rose up to circle his wrists. 

The sky began to lighten up, and they knew that soon they would have to part ways to face the world that was built against them and what they had just started. 

He circles his thumbs against her cheeks, as she leans into his touch. “I wish we could cheat reality a bit longer.” 

He pulled his head back, still keeping little to no distance in between them. “Me too, Princess.” 

She scoffed, a smile gracing her lips. “I prefer your highness I think!” She replied. He laughed then head tilting back, joy overtaking his features. 

Her face grew warm at the happiness she felt watching him be so carefree in her presence. 

When he gained his composure. He held her hand and leaned towards it. His lips touching her skin softly, as she shivered. They had just kissed and yet a simple kiss to her hand did it for her. How absurd, she thought. 

“Till we meet again Princess Genevieve.” He told her as he bowed and headed towards his quarters. 

“Gina.” She let out. He stopped in his tracks and turned towards her, with a look that said _“full of surprises aren’t you?”._

“Ricky.” He replies to her name, the name only her close and loved ones call her. 

She curtsies, blushing a bit as she remembers she is only wearing her nightgown. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ricky.” 

He holds two fingers to his lips, and kisses them, pointing them towards her. “The pleasure is all mine Gina.” 

* * *

And that’s how it began, a forbidden love that was bound to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was cut very short because believe ME there was much more I wanted to add, I wanted more angst more longing but I think I’m gonna keep that for the prince and his loyal guard (gina).. yeah I’m a sucker for the royal aus. Anyways enjoy this scrap <3
> 
> By the way the Heart Asks for Pleasure (City it Prague) is an actual song please give it a listen it was a huge inspiration for this chapter and is very lovely.


	6. The star that fell,

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> VI. The star and the mortal.  
> Based on the 2007 Stardust. Plot is not mine.

The first thing she feels when she lands is pain. As exhilarating it was to flow from space to earth, she wants to go back immediately. Her eyes force themselves open despite the growing pain from her left leg causing her eyes to roll back. 

She pushes herself up, in a sitting position with the strength of her elbows, or rather what’s left of it. She sighs, she doesn’t know where she is. The only thing around her is the wreckage of her beautiful and painful descend on earth. The rocks and dirt under her palms are melted, moulded into smooth waves that seem to surround the spot where she landed. She cannot see the ground above, the space that had not been dented by her impact, but she is pretty sure that many trees have fallen and burned. 

She groans again, raising her wrist to her forehead, great she was now the destruction that she had loathed to see from the world above. She was so deep in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed the jewel a few feet away. Not until, it’s glittering aspect caught her attention. 

Gina dragged herself towards it. It was a necklace. Thick, and holding at its centre a quite big jewel, a diamond? She couldn’t know for sure, but she slipped the necklace on, it’s the least she deserved after it had taken her out of her home against her will. 

Her eyes drifted again around her. The only thing she had with her was her silver silk dress and a jewel, how would she even be able to get home? She turned her body, putting her weight on her right hip so that her left leg could rest without causing her tremendous pain. 

She looks up to the sky, the stars, her friends, her sisters and brothers shining brightly, and frowns. She’s about to lie down on her back and watch them shine for the world as she’s done so many times, but her movements get interrupted by the sound of steps. Frantic footsteps.

She barely has time to register the individual that comes into her view, because he’s mumbling, and talking to himself. Is he  _ mad _ ? He looks around frantically, his head turning and searching for something, he seems young, 18 she’d give him. 

He continues to search around the crater, as she sighs and crosses her arms over her chest. He raises his head towards her, finally noticing her presence apparently. “Uh miss, you wouldn’t have happened to see a shooting star around here?” He asks her so innocently that she wants to smack him. 

Laughter bubbles up from within her chest. “You’re funny, I did, actually, I saw it get hit by this jewel, and then fall to the ground on her leg!” She practically yells. He takes a step back, his head tilting towards the ground as his hands find their way into his sweaty curls. “Is that a trick question?” He asks. 

She groans, her anger manifesting itself in light. She shines, but not in the delight of lighting the dark world, but in frustration she currently feels. He seems to understand, his face morphing in shock and realization. “You’re the star!” 

She claps her hands. “Bravo bravo sir?” “Ricky.” He offers. “Yes bravo indeed Ricky, you are quite observant!” 

He comes to her side and tries lifting her, but she swats his hands away despite the warmth they radiate. “What the hell? Don't touch me!” 

He huffs. “I need you to come with me, I need to bring you to _my_ Nini…” She scoffs, “Do I look like a present to you? I need to get back home, you’re merely in my way.” She waves him off, as she moves a bit and winces. 

“Suit yourself, I was going to give you this-” He brings out a candle- “A babylon candle?!” She almost yells in joy. He nods. “Yes to whatever you just said...I was going to offer it to you after I had shown you to Nini, I would have helped you get back to the sky...But seeing as you want me to leave, guess I’ll leave.” 

_ Gods, _ she thinks. “No! Wait, I’ll help you okay! Okay? Just help me up will you?” He gives her a bright smile, that makes her heart plummet. His hands reach to her sides, as he picks her up from the ground. As she’s standing, leaning her weight on her right foot, he wraps a silver chain around her left hand that seems to bind her to him. 

She raises her wrist to him, “What hell is this now?” He shrugs, “So that you don’t run away.”

She groaned for the thousandth time that night. She loved watching mortals complete quests and adventures from up above, but she did not like being a part of one. Especially when the person she’s with is a complete moron. 

_ This was going to be excruciatingly long and painful. And he was going to be a royal pain.  
_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is half assed, and not even finished! But I watched the movie again and god I really do love Tristan and Yvaine. You guys should give it a watch!
> 
> Not as tropey, or concrete as the other chapters but its a beginning to another love story between Gina and Ricky.


	7. Books and Fires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> VII. The one in which there are Little Women.

_ It’s nothing much _ , she thinks when she sees him for the first time. His hair ruffled, curls absurdly pointing in every direction on his head, as he opens the door only to be cornered by her. Taller genteman, his face lined with signs of age she has yet to gain, the corners of his eyes crinkled, telling her that he smiles quite a lot. His face morphs from shock and surprise to curiosity, a slow smile creeping on his lips. 

It’s nothing much, she thinks, as she turns back to look at him, when he’s behind her, down the steps.  _ It’s nothing much _ , she thinks as she’s being pulled by the mistress of the boarding house, but she can’t help but keep her gaze on him. Him with his hands stuffed in his pockets, hair ruffling slightly from the evening breeze. Him with his shy smile, teeth finally showing. 

“It’s nothing much,” She mutters as she falls down on her new bed, her hand coming up to her face. But she can’t stop thinking about his face, and the sensation that bloomed within her stomach when he smiled. 

* * *

The first time they have an actual conversation is when she walks into him. Quite literally. She’s been dabbling in this new concept, a new story, maybe Mr. Dashwood will finally open his ancient eyes and appreciate her phenomenal writing…She doubts it. She’s walking back and forth in the study, as she scribbles notes, reminders that she must change this and that and oh the plot it might need a bit more dramatics maybe another heroine— and then the front of her knuckles collide with his chest. 

“I— pardon me!” She says before her gaze can reach his. And then her heart starts hammering within her chest, her fingers shaking slightly. What could this possibly be? Maybe she’s just on a pleasurable high from finding a new story to write. 

He backs away from her, tripping a bit, she almost lets out a chuckle. “I- uh it is I who should ask for forgiveness, Miss..?” He lets out crossing his hands behind his back. 

She tilts her head to the side. His hair is as unruly as it was the day she first saw him, his eyes seem calmer, something about them makes her think about the beach, her mother, her sisters, and Teddy. A simpler time. 

“Miss?” He asks, and suddenly she’s back in the present. She drops her story to the ground and they both stumble down to collect the loose sleeves. She gets most of the papers except for one, his hand slowly holds the paper towards her as if not wanting to scare her away. 

“Porter, Gina.” She finally says. He gives her the same shy smile he gave her the day they met. “Bhaer, Richard. I am glad to make your acquaintance Miss Gina.” 

They shake hands and for the first time, she feels a desire for something other than the calluses and blisters caused by writing. 

Before she can think more of it, she bids him a quick farewell and runs to Mr. Dashwood. 

* * *

She misses her sisters, she misses walking up across Joanie, and bickering with Amy, she misses Macy’s exasperated face. She misses Teddy, grabbing him by the neck, and pulling him down to the ground.

_ —I wish to marry you! I would love you being words Gina, you must know… _

_ I do! But I cannot tie myself down, not when we would bore each other and bicker till days end, we would hate each other! _

She will not be tied down by a name that isn’t hers, especially not in the day and age of marriage and loss of individuality. The desire to be free was the only thing that mattered.

* * *

“Make some adjustments and we might be able to make this work, Miss Porter.” The older man tells her behind his desk. And she’s full of life suddenly, running through the streets back to the boarding house. 

* * *

He catches her by the fireplace writing furiously down a piece of paper, her eyes full of stars and more passion than he has ever seen in his lifetime. The woman is completely, utterly, smitten with writing. He has noticed how her face lights up every time she teaches and every time she reads and how she glows, a fire burning, whilst she's writing. 

His open admiration goes unseen to her, he thinks as he observes her, his gaze moving from her face to her insistent fingers but then a light catches the corner of his eye. 

“You’re on fire,” He mutters, her gaze suddenly softly rises to meet his, and he’s not sure but she might be blushing. But then he tilts his head towards her skirts and she pushes herself away. 

“Oh!” And then before he can drop another word she pushes past him to run to her room. 

She was not blushing, it was a trick of the light, the fire, made her skin seem redder, or perhaps it was due to her rapid entrance into the house, he tells himself at night. 

* * *

One night someone knocks on her door, thankfully she is still dressed. She opens the door quietly, because she must look like a mess. She pats her hair down, trying to calm her own wild spring like curls. She ties the back quickly and opens the door fully. 

No one awaits her, shrugging as she starts closing the creaky door, until she notices a pile of books on the floor. 

“I hope that you enjoy these classics and that we can converse about them one day, yours truly 

—Richard” 

Her fingers trace over the ink, as she clasps the books to her chest. 

Shakespeare.

Maybe, she had grown fond of him. Maybe she could give in to pleasure, a desire to be close with an other individual.

_ Maybe. _

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own anything in this story, because it’s literally based on Greta’s adaptation of Little Women and characters by Louisa May Alcott. 
> 
> But I really enjoyed the relationship between Jo and the professor, like a lot it’s crazy. I had to write something and granted this is very different from Gina and Ricky as individuals I still had to write something, and yes it is very much a small snippet, I may post more eventually with this au? I’ve been asked to post a bit more about dair!rina so maybe if you guys like this! 
> 
> Anyways!


	8. You'll pull me out of this trainwreck,

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He looks at her with no shame, not hiding a single thought. He is solely thinking about her despite the fact they had just won. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> VIII. They've fought this war side by side for quite some time.

Her hands squirm against the dirt and her fingers tangle themselves within the grass. The wind gently caresses her cheek, the scar she had gained during the war, no longer stings. Closing her eyes, Gina let’s herself bask in the warmth of the sunset. She hasn’t felt this much at peace since the war began, ending lives of nearly the entire population of Earth. She fears that one day she’s going to wake up from this dream, and realizes that the world hasn’t actually changed and that they haven’t actually won.

Before she can delve more into her fears she feels  _ his _ shoulder brush against her own bare shoulder. She hums not daring to open her eyes, but she feels his warmth settle at her side. Slowly she leans her head onto his shoulder. He has been with her since the day they found each other, both soaked in blood, hands trembling as they both pointed weapons at each other fearing that the other was the enemy. By her side when she got the deep cut on her cheek; he had held her close to his chest, sobbing. 

She had been by his side when she first heard his night terrors. He woke up wailing, crying hysterically, they had only known each other for 3 days and 2 nights. She held him close as he cried onto her shirt. A strange intimacy. She had been by his side when they had found stray kids and helped them get away, but not before he got stabbed in the stomach. She felt dizzy, sick as her hands scrambled to his lower abdomen, his hands were tainted in his blood, but still he caressed her cheek, ‘I’ll be fine,’her fingers trembled as she added pressure and screamed for help. 

Her fingers gently crawl beneath his shirt, touching the long, and forever present scar. _He’s alive, by my side._ She thinks, he wants to do the same as he nudges her to sit straight. So she does, she’d do  _ anything _ for him. His fingers grasp her chin, thumb caressing her skin, she looks at him then, finally opening her eyes. 

He looks at her with no shame, not hiding a single thought. He is solely thinking about her despite the fact they had just won. 

The children and the others laugh and celebrate from inside the safe house, she turns her gaze towards their new home, but he brings her gaze back towards his. 

_ ‘You care about others more than you do about yourself’ he had told her the day of their final confrontation. She merely nodded as she tucked the knives and guns within her belt. She thought that would be the end of it despite the tension between them, they had grown to live and function around it. But then he spoke up, ‘I care about you more than anything else in the world, Gin, please promise me that you will be careful.’  _

_ ‘I won’t have to because you’ll have my back,’ She added as she walked past him and pressed a chaste kiss dangerously close to his mouth. _

And now they had won, they had won for a week and yet barely spoken for most of those days, barely seen or touched each other. All the avoiding led to this moment. So she looks at him, let’s him memorize every inch of her face as she does the same with him. His hand moves from her chin to her cheek, the scar. His thumb gently caresses as she automatically leans into his touch. 

“I love you,” he says, as her hand settles onto the back of the one holding her cheek. “And I you,” she lets out in a whisper. He leans in then, and she thinks she’s going to sob.

His mouth meets hers finally, after an eternity. It’s a mess, they’re so overwhelmed with emotions that they break apart not even a second after to cry quietly. 

He rests his forehead against hers as he tells her again and again that he loves her. In return she pulls him against her, mouth settling onto his softly this time. He sighs and so does she. Slowly as the sun gets engulfed in the darkness, he uses his arms to turn them, and make her lay on her back. He kisses her until they can’t breathe anymore, until her chest is heaving, until he slowly falls onto her chest in exhaustion. Exhaustion from a war that has plagued them, a war that is finally over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the rather vague plot in this chapter. I have had quite a hard time getting back into writing and this was the best I could do. If I were to write this with an actual plot, the war that the chapter discusses about, would be a vague entity like birdbox type stuff, and Gina and Ricky would meet eventually during a rainy night, slowly they would gain trust in each other while finding that there are other survivors, kids and people their age (18/19), and in the end they would win. It would be very tension-y and angsty probably around 20k words. I might write who knows we'll see but for now this is unfortunately all I have to offer.
> 
> kudos and feedback are always appreciated, you can find on me twitter @walIylinda (second l is a higher cap i)

**Author's Note:**

> Okay! So this is very oddly written because the plan I had made for this lifetime got away from me while I was writing but please bear with me <3 This fic has a total of around 6 chapters in my mind, in which Ricky and Gina are different characters in various stories and also original content. I wanted to write a soulamte au but wasn't able to, so here is the outcome! I have some of the second and third chapters written already but no promises of when they'll be posted.
> 
> Again sorry for the rushed writing, the future chapters will be better.
> 
> And as always kudos and comments are appreciated and you can find me on tumblr as @lindaspark.


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